Weird BTA

wingzfan

Member
I've had my BTA for 3 months now. All i see on him are just a bunch of little bubbles and no tentacles. Is he just young or what?
 

perfectdark

Active Member
It is fine BTA's can either bubble or not Bubble. Some do when they eat or after they eat. Some even only bubble half of their body. There is no set way shape or form with BTA's as far as bubbling tenticles go. Some do some never do and either one to date isnt a sign of an unhealthy anenome. You IMO have a text book looking BTA.. people strive to get ones that do just what yours is doing.
 

nietzsche

Active Member
Originally Posted by wingzfan
Interesting. So it could get tentacles or will it stay like this its whole life?
wow thats awesome. a lot of people would want their BTAs to have bubbles like yours
it could lose the bubbles whenever for whatever reason, no one know what reaons they are, it just happens like perfectdark said
 

wingzfan

Member
I have 2 true percs and I want them to have an anemone. So should I wait and see what happens with this one or get a different anemone?
 

nietzsche

Active Member
Originally Posted by wingzfan
I have 2 true percs and I want them to have an anemone. So should I wait and see what happens with this one or get a different anemone?
make sure the anemone is bigger than both of clowns. the anemone might die from the roughness that the clownfish dish out
also its not a guarantee that theyll make it their home or it may take a long time before they go into the anemone
 

wingzfan

Member
Not healthy?? It has looked this very way since introduction to the tank. Please explain..."bleached BTA" One thing I have noticed is that the last week or so, there is a greenish tinge to the tips of the bulbs and at night they almost glow florescent under the moonlights. I thought it was very healthy!? What should I do? Is it too late? It eats silversides q other day. The water parameters are perfect. I do a 15-20% water change every 10d or so. The other livestaock appear to be doing well.
 

perfectdark

Active Member
Dont get too worried just yet.. From what I have been told Bta's come in all different colors, while your bulbs look whitish in color which could be an indication of bleaching you need to look at the foot of the animal is it pink/tan in color? If so its not too bleached but not positive about that and it can recover. And I have seen many BTA's with your color variation under MH lighting but their foot is pink, peach, or tan not sure if it was healthy or not but other than color it looked it. In fact the picture of the BTA on this site shows a variation of yours with tiny pink tips instead of green and I doubt they would show a bleached anenome for sale as their advertising model, but maybe. If im not mistaken the xooxanthellae in their tenticles that gets depleated starts at the tips and then shows fading all the way down eventually consuming the base and foot. ALthough I might be wayyyy of on that.. someone else maybe no more about the process of how they bleach.
 

rod buehle

Member
I agree that there is a significant loss of zooxanthallea (bleached). It can recover. Feed it well with small pieces of food and it should regain color.
I have seeen many bleached anemones used in advertizing. Even on what I consider on of the best clown/anemone books out there (Fauntin/Allen are the authors, but the title escapes me right now) has 4 different anemones on the front cover, and all 4 are bleached.
 

perfectdark

Active Member
WOW Really? so is the one that is shown on this site bleached? and is his bleached? Just curious as to what stages of bleaching looks like and what some anenomes are considered to be their natural color.
 

wingzfan

Member
The base has good healthy 'flesh-tone' color to it and like I said, the past week or so, the tips (closest to the light - see photo as he is sitting perpindicular to the top of the tank/lights) have started to get this green color. I thought this was a 'good thing'. As far as flow and light goes, originally, he was on the ledge above where he is now, but he migrated to his current spot and appears to be content. I have (2) 55W 10k actinic T-5 PC's. I do think he has been slow (by my standards) to acclimate to the new tank and the percs thus far have shown no interest, but... Glad to hear he should be ok if his base is good color and he is eating. Anything else I should watch for or do?
BTW: Is there such a thing as a green-tip anemone?? Or will the color change as he (hopefully) recovers????
 

perfectdark

Active Member
Rod Buehle is the man when it comes to these things IMO there is nothing he says that I would argue against. I know there are Green bta's and rose Bta's but as far as how those specific colors vary? I dont know.. what size tank is it in? 110 watts of T-5's but what size is your tank? that may have something to do with it.
 

wingzfan

Member
Rod,
How often do you recommend feeding the anemone? Currently we feed it 1/4 of a silverside minnow q other day. Is that appropriate?? I certainly do not want to starve it. Thanks...
 

perfectdark

Active Member
From what I remember Rod has answered this question before... Small quantities more frequently as anenomes use alot of energy to consume their food. Offering smaller quantities more often makes it eaiser for them to digest and with one that is trying to recover it helps the process.. so IMO your doing good. I feed mine 1/4 of a silverside or clam or whatever.. every 2 days..
 

dogstar

Active Member
Entacmaea quadricolor, the name itself means they are found in four colors. Brown, green, red, and a very rare orange.
It can not regain the zooxanthallea without proper lighting for photosynthesis to accure, feeding will not do that...It needs good lighting, I hope you have it...
IMO, if you dont know what bleaching is then you didnt research befor purchaseing this animal.....research, dont take my word for it.
 

eaglephot

Member
Originally Posted by Dogstar
IMO, if you dont know what bleaching is then you didnt research befor purchaseing this animal.....research, dont take my word for it.
Be nice. They are new to this.
From what you have been saying, it sounds like your Anemone's zooxanthallea is growing back. You have enough lighting for a BTA. Since you said it was white "bleached" or like that when you bought it, that could mean that the LFS you got it from didn't have enough lighting and caused it to become bleached. You are doing fine! Usually when a BTA gets its bubble tips (from what I have read) it means that it is happy and healthy. Make sure that you keep feeding the Anemone that little bit of silversides everyother day. It is keeping it alive while it grows that zooxanthallea back.
 
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